To the naked eye, and probably even under a microscope, hemp cannabis flower looks just like regular THC flower. And it’s not just about the looks, either. The distinctive smell, one of cannabis’s unmistakeable trademarks – hemp flower has assumed that signature trait, too, in abundance at that. On top of all that, hemp flower is composed of the same molecules that make up THC flower as well, which naturally means it produces a lot of the same effects that THC flower does except for getting you “high”.

So, to modify the famous duck saying, if it looks like THC flower, and smells like THC flower, and acts like THC flower, then it’s probably THC flower. Well, no, because of one key difference as far as the law is concerned, and two key differences as far as the consumer is concern.

The first key difference that concerns both the law and the consumer is THC content.

THC Content
Sure, hemp has THC, too, but under federal law, the amount of THC must not exceed 0.3% - anything above that would classify the plant as THC flower, and respectively illegal in certain cases.

Of course, 0.4% won’t make you “high”, or anything for that matter, but it’s crucial that farmers adhere to this limit to prevent regulatory troubles. With that being said, there are people who rely on this THC threshold.

The second key difference is, or at least should be, the CBD content.

CBD Content
Hemp flower should come from hemp that was specifically bred and groomed for very high CBD content. In that spirit, hemp flower is basically a CBD product, or full-spectrum CBD to be more precise, that is experiencing a rapid surge in popularity.

This type of hemp flower is not to be mistaken with industrial hemp, which refers to a variety of cannabis sativa L. plants, grown to produce a number of commercial commodities, from fiber, to clothing, rope, and others. The two types of hemp might be the same in the eyes of the law, but are vastly different in practice.

Modes of Hemp Flower Consumption

Inhalation: Vaping; Smoking Hemp Cigarettes

This is easily the most popular category. Vaping and smoking hemp flower happens in the same way you vape or smoke regular cannabis or tobacco, using bongs, pipes, and vaporizers on the one hand, or rolling it into a joint or buying it pre-rolled on the other.

The benefit of inhalation as a mode of hemp consumption is that you bypass the first-pass metabolism which takes place in the gut and liver when you ingest edibles, for example, and takes its CBD cut, so to speak, decreasing its bioavailability and the effect you get out of a said dose. Instead, by inhaling CBD, you insert it almost directly into your bloodstream via your lungs, which are very permeable and have a large surface area, absorbing a much higher percentage of the same dose. On top of that, the onset of effects occurs within a couple of minutes.

Benefits of Hemp Pre Rolls for Beginners

Hemp pre rolls have a couple of universal benefits that are all-the-more relevant to people dabbling in the world of CBD.

For one, there’s something to be said for user-friendliness and saving time. Unless you’re experienced in rolling cigarettes or joints, naturally quite dexterous, or have a rolling machine or a vaping device, rolling can be the stumbling block that makes you go “Ah, screw it,” and let hemp flower go altogether.

Furthermore, you might find yourself in urgent need of a quick fix of pain and/or anxiety relief – cases in which not only is time of the essence, but rolling becomes extra hard and time-consuming, which respectively feeds right back into your pain and/or anxiety, creating a double trouble that can escalate into a full-blown vicious circle.

Last but not least, hemp pre rolls are like CBD capsules, in the sense that they are an accurate way to control CBD dosage. Even if you smoke only part of the pre roll, you’ll still have a very close estimate of the amount of CBD you’ve consumed.

And then, there’s the argument that hemp pre rolls can help people quit smoking regular ones, which deserves a separate article.

Of course, we need to include a somewhat obvious disclaimer that smoking anything, no matter how medicinal it may be, in itself is bad. If you’re someone who needs large CBD doses for a serious medical condition, choosing hemp cigarettes as your mode of CBD intake might defeat the medicinal purpose.

Cooking with Hemp Flower

You can also cook with hemp flower, again in pretty much the same way you would cook with THC flower. The idea is that the CBD needs to go through decarboxylation, which is the process that occurs upon heating, turning CBDA, the inactive stem molecule, so to speak, into CBD, by removing the “A” which stands for acid.

Doing that involves some amount of guesswork, as a body of anecdotal evidence suggests you need to put the oven between 240oF and 280oF for between 60 and 90 minutes. A good idea could be to start with a small amount in order to minimize your potential losses and go big once you’ve pinned down the golden ratio.

Hemp flower has some of the makings of the ultimate CBD product – versatility of applications, user-friendliness, a sense of authenticity, and the full spectrum of cannabinoids at its side to enhance CBD’s power – and its surge in popularity is not surprising at all, nor is it undeserved.